Florida Atlantic University Athletics
2015 Women's Soccer: A Season in Review
11/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- The Florida Atlantic University women's soccer program posted its best record since 2005 this year with 12 victories and finished as the No. 3 team in Conference USA.
The Owls began the year with a three-match winning streak, defeating Stetson, North Florida and Sam Houston State all away from the friendly confines of the FAU Soccer Stadium. FAU's first blemish came at the hands of then-No. 4 Texas A&M. Starting with a 3-1 home victory over Miami on Sept. 4, the Owls rallied for three more consecutive victories to improve to 6-1, their best start since 2003.
A six-match skid humbled the Owls as they dropped each contest by just one goal, including 2-1 losses at No. 17 Texas Tech and C-USA Champion North Texas. On Oct. 4, FAU found the magic once more. Newcomer Geovana Alves scored a sudden-death goal in the second overtime to seal a 3-2 victory at Rice. From there, history was made.
FAU went on to win its next five before tying WKU as goalkeeper Sydney Drinkwater and the defense did not allow a single goal over the final 602 minutes of the regular season. Six seniors celebrated a 4-0 win over UAB on Oct. 23 with family and friends in attendance for Senior Day as the Owls secured a top-four seed in the C-USA Tournament.
The historic season came to a close as FAU came within inches, but fell to Old Dominion in the first round of the tournament, 2-1 on Nov. 4.
Head Coach Patrick Baker, in his third season at the helm, was named the Co-Conference USA Coach of the Year while several Owls garnered postseason recognition. Erica Burt earned First Team honors while Alves, Drinkwater and Asta Arnadottir were named Third Team All-Conference USA. One of the best to ever take the pitch for FAU, Claire Emslie earned Second Team All-Conference USA honors, marking four consecutive all-conference seasons. She was also named to the All-Academic team every year in which she was eligible and earned Academic All-District honors. Emslie became FAU's all-time goals scored leader in her final match, scoring her 29th career goal in the closing minutes against ODU.
Gabriella Sosa also climbed in the record books in her last year, ranking among the top all-time in matches and minutes played. Drinkwater tied the school record for shutouts in a season with ten and tallied a goals against average of just 0.79.
With five All-Conference USA honorees, a 12-win season and several key players returning, the future is bright for FAU Soccer.
